


Some Time To Heal

by aquilaofarkham



Category: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed III - Fandom
Genre: Blood, F/M, Healing, Herbalism, Hurt/Comfort, Interracial Relationship, Medical Procedures, Medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 19:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6438124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquilaofarkham/pseuds/aquilaofarkham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Still reeling from his life-threatening injury received while chasing Charles Lee, Connor seeks help from a back-alley doctor in Boston.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Time To Heal

Madeleine found Connor to be a rather peculiar man. The first time he walked into her family’s small general store, he didn’t say much. He made some purchases then left after saying a brief “thank you”. The following visits were a little different; those were the days when Madeleine worked at the front of the store instead of her mother or aunt.

He always made sure to talk to her and she enjoyed the many conversations they had together, no matter how short or awkward most were. Very soon he was making daily visits to the store just to see her. Connor was polite, soft spoken, and humble; in other words, a true gentleman.

Yet everything about him was still a mystery to her. He never talked about his profession or why he always carried so many weapons on him. Madeleine asked if he was a soldier, to which Connor responded with “no” but when she asked him if he was instead a hunter, his answer was “in a way, yes”. That just left her feeling even more confused and curious but it was obvious he didn’t want to talk about it so there was no point in prying any further. She still enjoyed being in his presence and eventually went so far as to consider him a good friend. Madeleine certainly found him to be more hospitable than most of Boston’s inhabitants.

Then one day, Connor didn’t visit the store. She waited for hours, keeping a close eye on the front door but never saw him. Soon it was time to close shop. Madeleine retreated to her bedroom the size of a broom closet with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The colonists were saying the war was almost over, yet not everyone agreed with them. During some of her conversations with Connor, they both saw that statement as nothing more than wishful thinking. Comforting but not necessarily true. That uncertainty and her friend’s absence were only making Madeleine feel even more worried for his safety.

_He’s fine_. She thought, adjusting her position in bed. Despite the many attempts, she was still finding it hard to remain focused on her book. _He knows how to handle himself. He is probably busy with something._

That was always like Connor; busy, constantly running from place to place, helping as much as he could, and putting others’ lives before his own. Never stopping, not even to catch his breath. Madeleine was always impressed by how much energy that man had.

She was about to lay her head against the pillow and fall asleep when she heard a faint _tick_. Madeleine sat up and listened carefully. A few seconds passed before it happened again. It sounded as though something very small was being thrown against her window. She got up and opened it; at first thinking it was just a couple of street children hoping to get some attention by chucking stones. Madeleine already had some very choice words for them.

That was before she looked downwards into the back alley and saw who it really was. “Connor?” She exclaimed quietly. “What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how late it is?”

Instead of answering, Connor lowered his head as his broad shoulders moved up and down with every heavy breath he took. Madeleine then took a better look at him; one side of his body along with his hand and chest were all covered in blood. She tried to remain calm but it didn’t take very long for panic to start setting in.

“What happened? Connor? What did you do?” Another bout of silence passed between them before he finally spoke up.

“I need your help.”

“Connor, my mother and aunt are still awake. They’ll know-“

“Please.” He groaned, barely having enough strength to raise his head. Madeleine felt her heart sink; she couldn’t leave him outside. She had to do something, regardless of the risk.

“All right. Wait there.”

“I can come up-”

“No you can’t and you won’t! I’ll be down shortly. Don’t. Move.” Closing the window, she rushed out of her room and down the narrow staircase, cursing in Patwah as she descended. _What the hell did you get yourself into, Connor?_ Madeleine opened the back door of the shop and ran to her friend’s side. He looked even worse up close.

“Connor…” She whispered. “How much of this is your blood?”

“All of it.”

_Oh god…_ Most of it looked to be fresh while the rest had dried. Connor’s face was devoid of any expression aside from pain and despondency. But when Madeleine once again questioned him about what happened while she helped him move forward, he said nothing.

Once they made it inside, Connor barely made it up three steps before she heard her mother’s voice coming from upstairs. “Madeleine? What are you doing down there?” Panicking, she carefully slipped past Connor so that she was in front of him.

“ _Désolé, maman!_ I was having trouble sleeping.” Madeleine began praying that her mother would not come walking down the stairs.

“Well, try not to make too much of a ruckus. And please do not spend the entire night up and about. You still need your sleep.”

“I won’t. Goodnight, mama.”

“Goodnight.” Upon hearing a door close and then silence, Madeleine let out a sigh of relief. She turned to Connor who had one hand still on his bloodied side and the other pressed firmly against the opposite wall.

“… I should not have inconvenienced you.”

“Shush! Let’s get you upstairs.” It was anything but a quick ascent but Madeleine did manage to get Connor into her room and onto her bed. She closed the door and could already feel her hands trembling.

There was no time for second guesses. After tying back her thick wavy hair, Madeleine gathered up all the medical tools she needed for the procedure. Connor was her closest friend; she refused to abandon him even if his current condition scared her.

Getting all the layers of clothes off his upper body was the first hard step. Next, the wound had to be cleaned as much as possible. Taking a closer look at it, Madeleine felt her heart quicken in pace so suddenly, it nearly made her sick. Something, either a bayonet or more likely a large branch, had stabbed Connor directly under his ribcage. He was lucky that none of his internal organs were pierced. Still, she didn’t like the look of his wound.

“How long has it been since this happened?” She asked, cleaning most of the blood with a damp hand rag.

“A few hours… maybe even a day or more.”

Madeleine wanted to smack Connor. Why did he wait so long, especially considering the severity of his wound?

“Don’t ever do that again,” she whispered. After calming herself down, she began pulling out tiny splinters left behind by whatever stabbed him. With each one, Madeleine’s fingers became redder and redder despite her attempts to stop the blood flow. Connor’s breathing was heavy while his forehead and upper body were both drenched in sweat, but even in his terrible condition, he seemed to be doing very well. And yet he still didn’t tell her anything, not about what happened or what he did.

Then came the hardest step: sealing the wound. Madeleine’s wiped her hands and thought over what few options she had. The laceration was too large to do a simple stitch up so instead it had to be closed by cauterization. It would be painful but quick and that was a risk she had to take. After holding her tool over a candle flame to heat it, Madeleine grabbed a ratty belt and handed it to Connor.

“Bite down on this.” He nodded, putting it between his teeth. By that point, they were both sweating and shaking profusely. She placed the tool onto the wound but no matter how slowly or gently Madeleine went, it was still immensely painful for Connor. He shut his eyes tightly and bit down on the belt so hard for a moment she worried that he was going to break his teeth. With all of his low groans and hisses, he did everything he could to keep himself from screaming and thrashing about.

Madeleine already knew Connor was strong. She also knew how hard it was, even for someone like him. Yet there he was, still filled with the determination to hold on and remain strong.

She was careful with cauterizing the wound but finished it quickly enough so that Connor wouldn’t have to suffer for much longer. Thankfully bandaging him was the final and easiest step. Madeleine got that done at an even faster pace.

“Connor?” She said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Can you still hear me?” After a few seconds, he nodded weakly. “I’m right here. You did very well. You’re going to be all right.”

He didn’t respond; all he could do was take her hand from his cheek and hold it as tightly as he could. They stayed like that for a little while until Madeleine let go. She briefly left Connor’s side and returned with an extra blanket for him. Once she made sure that he was comfortable, she removed her bloodstained apron, untied her hair, and crawled into bed beside him.

“I… I can move…”

“I’m fine. You stay right where you are.” True, there wasn’t much room for the two of them, both in the bed and room, but it didn’t matter. In the end, Connor quickly fell asleep. Madeleine wasn’t too far behind him. Whatever happened in a couple hours, she would have to deal with it. But for the moment, the most important thing on her mind was sleep.

\-- 

Morning came faster than Madeleine anticipated. Even with the stress of the previous night, she did manage to get some sleep. But she woke up alone. Madeleine sat up and looked to the other side of the bed only to find it empty.

She also noticed that her window was slightly ajar. Groaning, she placed the palms of her hands upon her warm cheeks before running her fingers through her bedridden hair. _Connor, why do you always have to be like this?_

Despite how frustrated she felt about his stubbornness, Madeleine was still worried. She knew that she had to work in the general store but she already had other plans. Luckily when she asked, her mother kindly granted her a break around noontime.

When noon eventually came, she rushed back upstairs and quickly got busy preparing a basket for Connor. She packed in as much as she could: clean bandages, medicinal cream, tealeaves, and fresh herbs. Madeleine considered most of the items to be old medicine (at least compared to what she used the night before) but everything worked and she hoped it would help her friend.

After draping a thick shall around her shoulders, she grabbed the basket and walked out into the busy Boston streets. She came across a farmer who generously offered to take her to her destination since he was heading out to the countryside as well. Madeleine thanked him and hopped onto his rickety wagon. The ride itself wasn’t very long and before she knew it, they had arrived at the Davenport Homestead.

Madeleine wanted to explore a little bit or at least speak with the inhabitants, seeing how Connor always liked to talk about how welcoming his fabled Homestead was. But unfortunately she didn’t have enough time and had to get moving. She trudged down the long winding roads until she saw the large Davenport manor off in the distance.

As Madeleine ambled her way towards the front door, she hoped Connor had managed to somewhat recover from the night’s ordeal. She knocked but there was no answer. She tried again after waiting and the outcome was the same. “Hello? Connor? It’s me, Madeleine. Are you there?” Nothing, just more silence.

Getting anxious, she grabbed the handle and found the door to be unlocked. _I’m sure he won’t mind…_ Without thinking it through a second time, she let herself into the manor. It was just as Madeleine pictured it to be, a grand building that seemed to go on and on with each room leading somewhere else. She also found it to be oddly lonely.

“Connor?” Just then she heard footsteps coming closer. Shortly afterwards, he sauntered into the main hallway, still wearing his white and blue robes, and looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to barge in…”

“It is fine. Do you need something? Is everything all right?”

“Well, you really worried me when you left this morning without saying a single thing.”

Connor went quiet and lowered his gaze. “Sorry. I did not want to disturb you or your family. But why have you come here?”

“I wanted to give you some things to help until you fully heal.” Madeleine handed him the basket and Connor took it, his head still down. “The bandages should last you for at least a week and carefully put a little bit of the cream on your wound twice every day. It will help prevent infection and bring down any inflammation. The tealeaves and herbs are for whenever you feel feverous or… negative. In terms of stress and the like.”

“… thank you.” That would have been Madeleine’s cue to say, “You’re welcome” and leave. Yet she stayed.

“Connor? How… how are you feeling?”

“Fine,” he answered after a pause.

“You know I don’t believe you.”

“… I know that. I apologize for how I have been acting, but…”

“Connor, there’s no need for you to apologize for anything. If you don’t want to talk about something with me, it’s all right. I won’t force you to. But please know that I only want to help. And if you need anything or anyone for whatever reason, you can always find me in Boston.”

Connor stared at Madeleine and swallowed hard. His expression had softened but he still struggled to find the right words to say. “Thank you for everything. And… I would like it if you visited the Homestead again in the future.”

“Of course I will.” Before Madeleine turned to leave, she rubbed Connor’s arm and said one last thing. “Take as much time as you need to heal.”

With that, she left hoping he would put everything in the basket to good use. Madeleine also hoped that she wouldn’t have to wait very long to see Connor again.

**Author's Note:**

> After much talking and beating around the bush, I finally decided to write a fic about my OC Madeleine Barrett and the first thematically important scene between her and Connor. I know that OC & canon character fics aren’t particularly well received, but please be gentle with her (and feel free to leave any comments/critiques). To know more, feel free to come talk to me about Madeleine at aquilaofarkham.tumblr.com or at discendo.tumblr.com~


End file.
